1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of temporary shelters and, more particularly, to all-weather temporary shelters that can be stored in a compact configuration in a single container and then easily and quickly assembled.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable shelters are commonly used by the U.S. military for temporarily housing military personnel, equipment, and supplies. Ideally, such shelters should be stored in a compact configuration for easy transportation, and should be relatively quick and easy to assemble and disassemble with hand tools.
For military use, portable shelters must be designed for use in both hot and cold external environments. In order to be used in these different environments, the roof and side walls used on the shelters should form enclosed, sealed structures that can be cooled or heated with portable HVAC units. Assembled inside the shelter should be duct work that transports the cool or hot air from the HVAC throughout the shelter.
Temporary shelters used in the prior art typically include a plurality of arched frame members that are evenly spaced apart and connected at their opposite ends to a rectangular-shaped lower base frame that attaches to the ground. A flexible roof cover is then pulled over the frame members to form an elongated, half-circular structure. An example of such a shelter is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,009. One drawback with such shelters is that the arch frame member has relatively short side walls that prohibits tall objects from being stored adjacent to them. As a result, a significantly large amount of storage space is wasted and not used when tall objects are placed inside the shelter.
Another drawback with temporary shelters with flexible roof covers used in the prior art is that the outside cold or hot temperatures are transmitted through the roof cover and into the shelter. Also, the air inside these shelters is not adequately exchanged thereby creating different temperature zones inside the shelter.